The mother of a murdered teenager says the child killers responsible have “taken my heart” and don’t “understand the impact” of what they’ve done.
Max Dixon, 16, and Mason Rist, 15, were stabbed to death by a group of teenage boys in a case of mistaken identity in Bristol in January.
Those responsible – now aged 15, 16 and 17 – along with 18-year-old Riley Tolliver – were given life sentences at Bristol Crown Court today.
In November, their getaway driver, Anthony Snook, 45, was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 38 years.
Max’s mother, Leanne Ekland, has spoken of the panic she went through when she found out her son was dying on a nearby street.
“Me and my partner Trevor, we were up in bed,” she told Sky News, describing the night of the murders. “Max was at home, in his bedroom on his PlayStation and we didn’t think anything of it.
“Next minute a car pulled up outside my house and was shouting at my window – ‘Max has been stabbed’ – and I said: ‘No he’s not, he’s in bed’.”
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Leanne rushed to Ilminster Avenue in the Knowle West area of the city and was allowed by paramedics to sit with her son.
“It was just such a panic, I don’t know what I was thinking, I was sat down on the floor and the paramedics were cutting his clothes,” she said.
Max had met his friend Mason at his home on the Saturday evening to get pizza – but within seconds of leaving were attacked by a group armed with machetes.
The gang were seeking revenge for an attack with bricks on a house in Hartcliffe in Bristol an hour earlier – but both boys had nothing to do with it.
‘They didn’t do anything wrong’
The gang’s deadly attack was caught on Mason’s home CCTV.
Leanne said: “When I see Max and Mason on the CCTV, when I see them meet up with each other, I just look at him and I can see him smiling.
“And what’s sad is those boys don’t know what’s going to happen to them when they walk out that gate.
“They must have been petrified. They were just going to get some food.
“They’ve done nothing wrong.”
Leanne added: “I had no idea why they were targeted. Then obviously when I was told, that’s hard. That’s hard to comprehend.
“Because there’s no reason for Max and Mason not to be here today. They didn’t do anything wrong… but sadly they lost their lives.”
Her child’s murderers, Leanne said, have “taken my heart”.
She added: “I love my girls deeply but they’ve also taken my son. I now need to repair my life without him.
“Everyone says it will get better but I don’t think it will. Because he was a massive part of my family and I don’t want to move on.
“He was the glue of our family and to think I’ve got to move on without him is hard. They need to understand that – they destroyed me.”
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‘Trial was hardest thing I’ve ever had to do’
Leanne attended much of the trial at Bristol Crown Court, which showed CCTV footage of the attack.
She said no family should have to go through that sort of process.
“It was very difficult to listen to,” she said. “But as Max’s mum I wanted to hear everything, and I wanted to have questions answered and I wanted to know what my boy went through in the last minutes of his life.
“It was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. But it’s the only thing I can do for Max… to sit through it and know what he went through.”
All five defendants were found guilty of murder and Leanne said that “allowed me to breathe”.
She added: “When that guilty verdict came back I could actually breathe a little bit because someone was held accountable for those deaths. And it just felt like a weight off my shoulders.”
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‘A lot of parents know what children are up to’
Leanne has worked with her son’s local football club to introduce emergency bleed control kits and has spoken to pupils about the risks of violence and carrying knives at Max’s school.
She said there needs to be more education about knife crime, and children should be taught about the “ripple effect” after using a weapon.
Leanne added: “I think it starts at home. With the parents. Because I think there’s a lot of parents out there that know what their children are up to.
“They know what they’re carrying. And I think obviously it starts at home, before we go anywhere else.”
Asked what she has held close to her since her son’s death, she replied: “Everything. I still have a plate and cup in Max’s bedroom which I will not take out as that’s what he used that night.
“Everything around me, that belongs to Max, is precious and I won’t get rid of that.”
